New research shows a massive 155 mile (250km) wide basin which exhibits all the signs of a cavity caused by such a catastrophe.

The crater - one of the world's largest - was discovered when it was noted how the strength of Eartth's gravity decreased over this section of the Atlantic Ocean, according to findings published in science journal Terra Nova.

Lying on a vast geological structure known as the Falkland Plateau, it is situated near West Falkland Island, to the north west.

HERE WE SNOW

MADDIE 'COULD BE ALIVE'

HOSPITAL SHOOTING

Multiple injuries after gunman opens fire inside Chicago hospital

'I ONLY STARTED THIS FOR MY KIDS'

Dad who hit £2k target to fund Xmas apologises to trolls

Biologist Professor Michael Rampino, of the University of New York, said: "If the proposed crater turns out to be 250 million years old, it could correlate with the largest mass extinction ever - the Permian extinctions, which wiped out more than 90 percent of all species."

It is even larger than the 125 mile (200 km) diameter Chicxulub crater discovered in Mexico in the late 1970s which is thought to have been caused by the asteroid which killed the dinosaurs.

Prof Rampino said: "If the Falklands basin is really an impact crater, and it has some of the most telling features, then it is one of the largest known."

'The Great Dying'

Around 252 million years ago the planet experienced the largest die off in its history, but exactly what happened has baffled scientists.

Officially known as the Permian mass extinction, it has been nicknamed The Great Dying, since an incredible 96 per cent of species died out. All life on Earth today is descended from the four per cent of species that survived. No class of life was spared from the devastation, according to Nasa. Trees, plants, lizards, proto-mammals, insects, fish, mollusks, and microbes were all were nearly wiped out. Roughly nine in 10 marine species and seven in 10 land species disappeared. Scientists have suggested various possible theories for the Great Dying including severe volcanism, a nearby supernova, environmental changes sparked by the formation of a large asteroid or a combination of the factors.

Experts estimate the basin dates from the late Paleozoic Era - approximately 270 to 250 million years ago.

Prof Rampino and his colleagues also point to specific features that indicate the basin is an impact crater, because it is buried by sediments from more recent eras, which indicates it was formed long before its surroundings.

A strong increase in the strength of Earth's magnetism at the site is another key clue, which is characteristic of large impact structures - including Chicxulub.

The largest known crater on Earth is the Vredefort crater in South Africa, which measures about 300 kilometers (190 miles) across and dates back 2.02 billion years.